BACK OF BEYOND (C. J. BOX)

Story Description: 

The Edgar® Awardwinning and New York Times bestselling author delivers a thriller about a troubled cop trying to save his son from a killer in Yellowstone. 

Cody Hoyt, while a brilliant cop, is an alcoholic struggling with two months of sobriety when his mentor and AA sponsor Hank Winters is found burned to death in a remote mountain cabin. At first it looks like the suicide of a man who's fallen off the wagon, but Cody knows Hank better than that. Sober for fourteen years, Hank took pride in his hard-won sobriety and never hesitated to drop whatever he was doing to talk Cody off a ledge. When Cody takes a closer look at the scene of his friend's death, it becomes apparent that foul play is at hand. After years of bad behavior with his department, he's in no position to be investigating a homicide, but this man was a friend and Cody's determined to find his killer. When clues found at the scene link the murderer to an outfitter leading tourists on a multi-day wilderness horseback trip into the remote corners of Yellowstone National Park-a pack trip that includes his son Justin-Cody is desperate to get on their trail and stop the killer before the group heads into the wild. Among the tourists is fourteen-year-old Gracie Sullivan, an awkward but intelligent loner who begins to suspect that someone in their party is dangerous. In a fatal cat and mouse game, where it becomes apparent the murderer is somehow aware of Cody's every move, Cody treks into the wilderness to stop a killer hell bent on ruining the only thing in his life he cares about. 

Back of Beyond is a Kirkus Reviews Best of 2011 Mysteries title. 

My Review: 

This was an edge-of-your-seat who-dunnit!!  I was pulled in right from the first chapter until the last.  Cody Hoyt is an alcoholic cop attending AA meetings and has two months of being sober under his belt.  His sponsor Hank was good to Cody who could call him at any hour and he would talk Cody down from the temptation of alcohol.  But when Cody finds Hank dead he realizes that something is amiss and it looks like a homicide. 

Clues at the scene lead to an outfitter who takes groups of people on remote wilderness tours via horseback deep into the forests of Yellowstone Park.  Jed is the group leader and this time he seems to have a rather eclectic group of folks in his care. 

One of the people on this trek is Gracie, a 14-year-old girl who is cute, talkative, intelligent and she soon figures out that some of the people in their group could be dangerous.  Cody eventually makes his way to Yellowstone to try to save the group and the tension and suspense will keep you turning the pages faster and faster. 

I would definitely recommend this book to everyone and I will be reading more of C.J.’s novels in the future.